November 14, 2011

We had a great time on our most recent trip to Maui. Sun, sand, and surfing! Goofy Foot Surf School in Lahaina provided the boards, swim shirts, shoes, and our instructor, Bully. Bully, who looked tough but was a really nice guy, has been surfing since the age of 4, and was a fantastic instructor. We all managed to get up on our feet the first time out! We didn't necessarily stay on our feet for long that first time, but we did get up. By the last ride in, we were all pros. Or, close to it. Surfing lessons are definitely a must-do in Hawaii. (Side note: If you do take lessons, be sure to wear board shorts - the non-skid surface on the boards is a little rough on bare legs!)

Since we were all in the water, and focusing on not getting hit by our boards or hitting anyone else with our boards, I wasn't able to record video. But we had some pics taken of Ashleigh, so here's a compilation for your viewing pleasure.

The rest of the time was spent snorkeling and building sand castles on a variety of beaches, driving to parts of the island we hadn't been. Dragon's Teeth, La Perouse Bay, Oneloa Beach, and of course, our favorite, Black Rock, where we came almost nose-to-nose with a very large sea turtle! We also managed to get in a trip to the Maui Ocean Center, where our octopus friend entertained us by periodically punching an annoying fish. (Seriously! Watch the video!)

We were given a proper Hawaii welcome by a sea turtle while snorkeling at Black Rock. Ashleigh was able to use her Kodak PlaySport camera to get some underwater shots as our friend munched away, and tried to escape from the crowd of people who eventually also came to take pictures. I'm still working on editing that video so that you don't get seasick just from watching it.

More pictures are on the menu to the left. Holidays - and more pictures - are coming soon!

October 31, 2010

Friday night was the annual Pumpkin Patch Festival at school. Very fun, with lots of food and games. Entertainment included the school band and orchestra, AND the Garage Band, featuring Ashleigh on lead vocals. It was her first time singing in front of a crowd, and she did great! Huge thanks and kudos to Ms. Turner, the strings teacher who coordinated the Garage Band and sticks around after school a couple days a week to help them rehearse. They all did a fantastic job in their concert debut!

(Warnings: A) It's super dark; hopefully the next gig will be inside or during the daylight hours. 2) Since we keep using the same cheap videographer (me), you might want to take some Dramamine prior to watching. Or send me money to hire a professional.)

Earlier in the week we made our punkolanterns. (Unfortunately, thanks to a little too much time catching dew in the morning and hot sun in the afternoon, they didn't make it to Halloween. R.I.P., punkolanterns.)

September 01, 2009

The start of school always reminds me that fall isn't far behind, and with it, the end to our summer nights. Summer means no obligations for the next day; school means homework, meetings, activities, and fewer hours of daylight. I already miss that we don't get to swim every night.

July 24, 2009

After our trip to Cusco and Lake Titicaca, we headed back to Lima and spent a day running some errands and doing laundry (thank you, Flora and Sra Townsend!).

The next morning, we hopped on a Cruz del Sur bus and headed to Ica, several hours south of Lima. The bus ride was eventful for two reasons: 1) Bryan came down with some sort of stomach thing, too, and was sick and miserable for the entire bus ride, and 2) we ran into some "civil unrest" in the form of transportation workers on strike and blocking the road and were stuck for an hour near the town of Chilca.

We arrived around lunchtime at Hotel Las Dunas, a resort in Ica, situated in the desert about an hour east of the coast and a couple hours north of Nazca. Bryan made himself comfortable in the room while Ashleigh and I went out to have lunch and explore the grounds. The resort was wonderful! Pools, water slide, restaurant, planetarium, games, mini-golf, a small farm with horses, ducks, and llamas, and a giant sand dune for sand boarding.

Ashleigh and I spent the first afternoon going down the water slide and eating lunch poolside. Later that night we went to the planetarium to learn about the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere and the Nazca Lines: giant (some twice as large as a football field) drawings in the desert, made nearly 2000 years ago, that can be seen best from the air. We'd heard that the flights over the Nazca Lines can be pretty stomach-churning, so we decided seeing them on the ceiling of the planetarium was fine for us.

Again, it was great to have Ashleigh along to help translate. The women at the front desk thought Ashleigh was amazingly precious when she translated instructions about a tour for me.

In the morning, Ashleigh and I left early to go to Paracas for a boat tour around the Islas Ballestas, islands off the coast of Peru known for sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and thousands of sea birds. The rock formations created by the beating waves are beautiful. The water was somewhat rough the day we went out, and had been for several days, so we didn't see as many sea lions as we would have liked, but we saw lots of penguins and birds. And smelled them. The islands are also known for large volumes of sea bird guano, which is harvested periodically (wouldn't you love to have that job) and sold as fertilizer.

By the time we got back (after another encounter with people on strike) Bryan was feeling better, so he joined us at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. We all even got up the nerve to go sand boarding, which was very fun! Not that I ski much, but it would be like skiing on the very softest powder you can imagine - you move pretty slowly down the hill, and it's a soft landing if you fall!

Overall, the time at Las Dunas was wonderful. A special thank you to Margarita of Margarita's Travel Tours, who drove us to Paracas for the Ballestas tour, and kept us all safe on the way back to the resort, in spite of more strikers along the way.

Everyone we encountered and talked to in Peru - from guides to waiters to sales clerks to hotel staff - was extraordinarily friendly and helpful. We truly enjoyed our time and adventures there.

Thank you very much to Sra. Holmes, for inviting us to stay with her family and helping make some of the arrangements for us. And many hugs and kisses to Sr. & Sra. Townsend, Sra. Holmes' parents, for sharing their home and family with us. I can't imagine a better way to experience Peru.

Ashleigh with Sr. & Sra. Townsend.

Gracias por todos!

And one more thank you for the Henshaw Family, with Sleepover Rover, who always take such wonderful care of Boomer!

July 19, 2009

The morning of our last day in Cusco, Ashleigh woke up early with some sort of stomach bug. I'm not sure whether it was food, water, or virus, but it took her down hard. We'd brought Immodium with us, which helped. Luckily, it was an easy day, with a short flight to Juliaca, then a car ride to Puno, the primary Peruvian port on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

The next morning, AJ was feeling somewhat better, but wasn't sure she could handle a whole day in a boat, so she and Bryan stayed behind while I went out to tour Lake Titicaca. Later in the day they did manage to take a walk to the lake and then through the Plaza de Armas in Puno.

The first stop on the "gray puma" lake was the Floating Islands of Uros. The people of Uros have lived for hundreds of years on the lake on islands made from the totora reed. There's a picture in the group on the left depicting (in my own, low-quality way) how the islands are made, but suffice it to say, islands made from reeds are very squishy!

One of the more interesting tidbits of information (I thought) is that the Uros people have used some of the money they earn from tourists to purchase small solar panels so that they can have electricity. The house we visisted had a small TV and radio, as well as a hotplate for warming foods.

Lake Titicaca is known as the "highest navigable lake" in the world, at 12,500 feet. Years ago, cruise ships sailed the lake, taking passengers between Peru on the west side of the lake to Bolivia on its eastern shores. Evidently, due to pollution, the cruise ships were stopped. But now that the lake has been cleaned up, there are plans to bring back a few small cruise ships. Hopefully, they're a little faster than the tour boats that leave from the Puno marina. The little "house boats" are no Bay Breeze (our commuter ferry in Alameda), but they're cute and comfortable. The guide on the boat told us that the engine came from a 1960s Ford sedan, and he wasn't joking!

Marnie in a stone doorway along Taquile's 550 steps on the way back down to the boat

Taquile Island juts up in the middle of Lake Titicaca about 30 miles from Puno. There are two ways to get to the main square, which is at the very top of the island: you can climb nearly 550 very steep steps, or you can take a winding, uphill path. On the way up, we took the path. Even so, at 12,500 feet and climbing, I was winded, and stopped occasionally "to take pictures." (I don't really think I was fooling my guide, who said he does this trek 3-4 times per week.) The square offers a gorgeous panoramic view of the lake, including the city of Puno and Bolivia's highest, snow-capped mountains.

After a several-hour boat ride back to Puno and then a cab ride to the hotel, Ashleigh, Bryan and I headed to the 2-gate Juliaca airport for a late-night flight to Lima.

For our time in Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Lake Titicaca, we used Condor Travel agency to help set everything up, and I have to give them kudos for being both helpful (and patient with me) during the planning process, and extremely friendly and professional during the tours. We highly recommend them!

I promise there's only one part left! After a day in Lima to recover and do laundry, we headed to a desert resort in Ica, south of Lima . . .